Protesters target Barclays branches in nationwide demonstrations

Barclays bank branches in England and Scotland faced a wave of protests led by the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action. Up to 20 branches were targeted, with buildings defaced with red paint and windows broken.

The protests were organized to demand that Barclays divest from Israel’s arms and fossil fuel trade, according to Palestine Action. A Barclays spokesman responded: “While we support the right to protest, we ask campaigners to do so in a way that respects our customers, colleagues and property.”

In Bristol, a city center branch had its windows smashed and red graffiti sprayed across the building. In Edinburgh, protesters threw rocks inscribed with the names of Palestinians killed in the conflict at a Barclays building.

The City of London Police reported the arrest of three men, aged between 34 and 45, in connection with criminal damage at the Moorgate branch on Monday morning. This branch was one of several across the capital to be targeted, including locations in St John’s Wood, Croydon, Richmond, Peckham and Croydon.

Elsewhere, branches in Stockport, Bury and Preston were similarly vandalized and damaged. Protests also spread to Glasgow, Brighton, Exeter, Sheffield, Northampton, Birmingham and Solihull, Palestine Action confirmed.

The newly formed underground climate movement, Shut the System, collaborated with the underground division of Palestine Action in these coordinated attacks. Both groups said their shares would continue until Barclays stopped investing in certain companies.

A Barclays spokesman reiterated the bank’s position, saying: “Barclays provides vital financial services to public companies in the US, UK and Europe that provide defense products to NATO and its allies. The defense sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK government has been clear that supporting defense companies is compatible with ESG considerations. Decisions regarding the implementation of arms embargoes to other nations are the responsibility of the respective elected governments.”

These protests come in the wake of recent violence in southern Israel, where Hamas attacks on October 7 have killed around 1,200 people and taken around 251 hostages. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza reported 37,084 deaths in the region on Saturday.